Pobeda LCC to launch Rostov-Baku flights

Russia’s Pobeda Airlines, the low-cost subsidiary of Aeroflot, is opening regular flights from Rostov-on-Don to Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku. The carrier has received approval from the State Civil Aviation Administration of Azerbaijan to operate Rostov-on-Don–Baku flights. Capital of Azerbaijan will thus be the ninth international destination in the lowcoster’s fast growing route network.

According to the Azerbaijani aviation authorities, flights from Rostov to Baku will begin on October 31. However, a Pobeda representative told Russian Aviation Insider that the company currently isn’t selling the tickets and cannot name the exact date of the first flight. According to the carrier’s website, flights to Baku are scheduled from October 30 to March 25, 2017, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The Azerbaijani side confirmed that the airline has requested approval to perform four flights a week on these days. According to the airport, there is no direct connection between Rostov and Baku now.

Today four lowcost airlines fly to Heydar Aliyev International airport, Azerbaijan’s main air harbor: flydubai, WizzAir, Pegasus and airBaltic. Lowcost flights are handled in Terminal 2, which also serves passengers of domestic flights of the airport’s base airline AZAL (which, along with the airport, constitute state-owned aviation holding company).

Azerbaijani aviation authorities are continuing negotiations to attract new airlines to the country. Baku has direct air connection with such Russian cities as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Mineralnye Vody, Kazan and Yekaterinburg.

Pobeda’s international destinations include Almaty, Girona, Bratislava, Bergamo, Memmingen, Tbilisi, Tivat and Paphos. The carrier is the sixth according to passenger traffic volumes among Russian airlines. From January to July, it served 2.435 million passengers, an increase of 68.6% compared to the same period last year. The carrier’s fleet consists of 12 Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

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